Manchester Memoirs, Vol. xlvii. (1903), No. 10. 3 



this grass, and expresses the conviction, quoting the report 

 of Lieut. R. C. Moody, R.E., to the Colonial Office, that 

 it is a most valuable pasture grass, if not the most valuable 

 one known, and will grow well on soil unfitted for other 

 plants, such as the most rank black peat bogs, etc., and 

 Dr. (now Sir J. D.) Hooker, the botanist of the expedition, 

 remarks that " with proper attention to its propagation 

 " and locality near the coast, and preservation from being 

 "entirely eaten down where it abounds already, the 

 "Tussack grass would, alone, yield abundant pasturage 

 " for as many cattle as there is ever likely to be a demand 

 " for in the Falklands." It is the inner part of the stem, as 

 far as 6 inches up from the root, that is most succulent, 

 palatable, and wholesome. It has been suggested that 

 the North of Scotland, where there are acres of moorland 

 and peat bog, with the Orkney and Shetland Isles, not to 

 mention Ireland, would be able to produce this grass with 

 commercial success for the rearing of cattle. It has been 

 pointed out, however, that the plant must learn that the 

 northern seasons are diametrically opposed to those it is 

 accustomed to in the Antarctic zone. 



Mr. Darwin visited the Falklands in the memorable 

 voyage of the ' Beagle ' in 1834, and, while not particularly 

 alluding to the Tussack grass, remarks on the extensive 

 peat bogs and inhospitable climate of the islands, and also 

 calls attention to the causes of its treeless wastes. 



Dr. R. O. Cunningham, in 1866- 1869, as naturalist 



during the voyage of H.M.S. ' Nassau ' to the Straits of 



Magellan and the Falkland Islands, devotes several pages* 



to an account of the P.caespitosa ; we quote the following: — 



" This was the first opportunity that I enjoyed of visiting 



" a Tussac Grove, and it made a most striking impression 



*" Natural History of the Strait of Magellan," by R. O. Cunningham, 

 pp. 296-399. 



